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Wednesday, February 23, 2000

By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Mililani's Hoku Patoc pressures Iolani's Ryan
Hanneman in an opening-round game.

Four teams make
early state-ments

Kalaheo's win over Honokaa
is the only close game in the first
round of the state boys'
basketball tournament

By Dave Reardon
Star-Bulletin

Alika Smith and D.C. Daniels chatted in a passageway of the Stan Sheriff Center yesterday.

When someone asked who was giving whom scoring tips, the Kalaheo basketball stars of past and present both laughed and pointed at each other.

Daniels had just torched Honokaa for 27 points as the Mustangs won, 57-53, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Hawaiian Airlines Boys' State Basketball Championships.

"We were lucky to escape after starting so poorly," said Kalaheo coach Pete Smith, whose team trailed the Dragons, 12-8, in the second quarter.

The crowd of 1,201 also saw:

A wildly athletic Lahainaluna team dominate defending champion Punahou, 65-52.

Radford bounce back from its first loss of the season last week to oust Kauai, 55-40.

And 6-foot-6 freshman Bobby Nash -- son of a former Hawaii great and NBA player Bob Nash -- lead Iolani past Mililani, 57-37.

The winners play seeded teams today.

HHSAA STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS At Stan Sheriff Center Today's games Consolation 2 p.m.: Honokaa vs. Punahou. Quarterfinals 3:30 p.m.: Baldwin vs. Radford. 5 p.m.: Hilo vs. Iolani. 6:30 p.m.: St. Louis vs. Kalaheo. 8 p.m.: Roosevelt vs. Lahainaluna.

KALAHEO 57, HONOKAA 53:

Daniels made his last six shots from the field. And the final one was the shortest, but the biggest.

His putback with 1 seconds left made it 55-53.

"The play was to throw me an alley-oop, but it didn't work out that way," Daniels said. "So I had to get in there and get the rebound."

It was fitting that the Mustangs (11-2) beat the Dragons (10-4) on an offensive rebound. Kalaheo grabbed 16 offensive boards, and enjoyed a 38-26 overall edge in rebounds.

Honokaa was without 6-foot-1 center Alan Texeira, who sprained his right ankle in a pre-game shoot-around. But coach Cheyenne Meyer said his team should have adjusted.

"When you're small like us, you need to have all your fundamentals," Meyer said. "And blocking out is one of the most important fundamentals."

Austin Souza led the Dragons with 15 points.

Kalaheo plays No. 2-seed St. Louis (10-2) tonight at 6:30.

"I know they're physical and they beat us in the preseason," said Smith, who won a state title as a Kailua player in 1972 when the Surfriders beat the Crusaders.

LAHAINALUNA 65, PUNAHOU 52:

The big, quick and agile Lunas (15-3) blitzed to a 10-2 lead, and the Buffanblu (10-5) never quite recovered.

Paulo Tuala, a muscular 6-4 center from New Zealand, scored a game-high 20 points and collected nine rebounds.

Punahou's Ryan Saito and John Freese scored 11 each, and it closed to 52-47 with 5:18 left. Okusitino Finau added 17 points.

Lahainaluna plays Roosevelt, the No. 3 seed, tonight at 8. The Lunas beat the Rough Riders in preseason.

"They're physical, but we'll be ready for them," Roosevelt center Maulia LaBarre said.

RADFORD 55, KAUAI 40:

Sa Tanuvasa started the scoring with a fastbreak dunk, and finished with 23 points as the Rams (13-1) built a 30-16 lead over the much smaller Red Raiders (6-3).

Radford coach Tim Harrison said he wasn't pleased, though.

"We played terrible," he said. "We were lucky."

Bradlee Lum-Tucker scored 10 points for Kauai.

IOLANI 57, MILILANI 33:

Nash was the high-scorer with 16 points and top-rebounder with nine as the Raiders (10-3) dominated the Trojans (8-7).

His father, Bob Nash, an assistant coach at Hawaii, looked on, along with his boss, Rainbows head coach Riley Wallace.

"Obviously he's a phenomenal talent, and he's getting stronger on the boards," Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi said.

Hoku Patoc tried to keep Mililani in it with 10 points.

The Raiders meet top-seeded Hilo today at 5 p.m.

The Vikings also feature a relative of a famous Hawaii sports figure: guard Kimo Keiter-Charles, is a grandson of sportscaster Les Keiter.

Keiter-Charles and Jason Mandaquit compose what some say is the best backcourt in the state.

"If they keep their discipline and play tough defense they have a chance (against Hilo)," Mililani coach Darren Camello said of Iolani, which has a roster of a freshman, six sophomores and three juniors.

Tim Crouse contributed to this story.